


blood heritage

by nervecore



Category: ITZY (Band), K-pop, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Blood, Funeral Mention, King - Freeform, M/M, MCD, Needles, Other, Triggers, blood bath, but if it is i will tag it, deadly sin, fight for the money, greed - Freeform, heritage, it wont be gore i hope, itzy - Freeform, kind of violent lol, kingdom - Freeform, might contain violence and even mcd idk yet but i tagged them just in case, please dont read if u dont like this type of shit, stray kids - Freeform, will contain strong language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24095113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nervecore/pseuds/nervecore
Summary: hwang hyunjin. oldest. people’s favourite for the throne.hwang yeji. hyunjin’s cousin. called cold hearted by many.choi lia. dad’s favourite. seen as unfit to lead an empire.han jisung. troublemaker. told he resembles his father the most.lee felix. lived in everyone’s shadow. his siblings consider him weak.kim seungmin. family’s pride. the one with most strategical thinking.yang jeongin. staff’s favourite. a man of many faces.shin ryujin. hyunjin’s rival. also people’s favourite for the throne.lee chaeryeong. family’s shame. came from the poorest family.shin yuna. ryujin’s sister. unpredictable most of the times, the unexpected.
Kudos: 13





	1. no one cared, besides her

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bertha ♡](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=bertha+%E2%99%A1).



> this entire work is dedicated to bertha since she convinced me to do it <3 enjoy this AND PLEASE don't read if any tags trigger you, thank you! it will be like a hunger games but without teams and only because of greed. maybe more violent tho idk sorry aaa.

king kang. loved by many and hated by the same amount, but doubled. his ruling was never bad by any means and he wasn’t ever biased regarding the people he came to judge for their wrong doings. he could be called a model, if it wasn’t for the major weakness he had to encounter, many, many years late towards to the end of his kingdom. he never considered marriage, many believed it was due to his past of family life way back in his childhood. others just thought he could never be loyal to one woman. main factor why the amount of people that hated him was bigger than the ones who loved him. well, those who had that kind of opinion weren’t wrong at all. if his people hated something so much about their ruler, that was his way of just going around and getting women pregnant without considering to give them any kind of financial support for the kids that did see the light. the backlash for those kind of actions was ignored, up until the king finally decided to take his daughters and sons under his wing on the property where he lived when away from all the ruler life. some of the kids had a better relationship with him than others and that was understandable. he couldn’t blame them. he was able only to give them whatever they needed and his attention whenever he had the chance to spend his time with them. he wasn’t an overall bad dad, as long as it lasted. some of the children could disagree, but everyone was entitled to their own views and their feelings couldn’t be changed, just because.

however, on his deathbed, he should have named one of them as the next king or queen. the one that was bond to rule after him and get access to all the valuables he owned. sadly, the king kang had to meet his end way before he even had the chance to make a decision. so that left all the 10 kids to decide everything up to their method.

that wasn’t going to end in a good way, because the ones with royal blood always had such a preference for the things that could be seen as… wrong by the society in terms of deciding things. and that wasn’t a reference to what their dad used to do, but rather to the very old ways of deciding the ruler between more kids. and that always led to a very intense, out of proportions, even bloody war between them. no ‘game’ like that ever ended without someone getting hurt. and the fact that they were more than usual was only going to lead them further to disaster.

but it was different with them, however. they weren’t going to fight only for the power to rule over so many people and territories. but they were going to be fierce over whoever gets the heritage. greed was filling up their minds ever since they heard that their ‘poor’ dad started to get more and more sick by day. and it only intensified once the bastard was gone and he didn’t get to name one of them the king or queen.

the last one to stand tall after all the shit that was going to happen was going to rule for the next decades and have access to all the goodies left by the old man. and every each one of them had an eagerness made of steel. and a determination out of iron. they believed in themselves to be the last remaining, but after all, only one could win.

so that led to the people starting making bets for the one who would actually come forward as the last standing.

**_hwang hyunjin._** _oldest._ people’s favourite for the throne.

**_hwang yeji._** _hyunjin’s cousin._ called cold hearted by many.

**_choi lia._** _dad’s favourite._ seen as unfit to lead an empire.

**_han jisung._** _troublemaker._ told he resembles his father the most.

**_lee felix._** _lived in everyone’s shadow._ his siblings consider him weak.

**_kim seungmin._** _family’s pride._ the one with most strategical thinking.

**_yang jeongin._** _staff’s favourite._ a man of many faces.

**_shin ryujin._** _hyunjin’s rival._ also people’s favourite for the throne.

**_lee chaeryeong._** _family’s shame._ came from the poorest family.

**_shin yuna._** _ryujin’s sister._ unpredictable most of the times, the unexpected.

no one of them had their dad’s name, as they would receive it as soon as they would be called ruler. but not like any of them cared of a stupid name and the people were aware how money hungry were those kids. they never had the chance to taste for real the feeling of having as much as their father used to have. so they were envious of him and angry for all those years he didn’t give them what they deserved. it was his decision to just go around and do what he did. and he ended up with so many kids, he should have known better than just ignore the fact that they were there, somewhere, breathing. he had all the possibilities to take care of them from the start and even better once he ‘adopted’ them. but he was just like them. greedy. no one ever said it out loud, fearing that they might free a demon they weren’t ready to see. but everyone knew it, not only his kids, but the people who worked for him as well.

it was running in the family.

the hunger for having more and more. so it was expected by everyone that those kids were going to be mini demons when it came to their dad’s death. and just the thought of what could happen between them was scaring everyone. even if they knew them personally or not. last time such a ‘blood bath’ happened, bodies had to be buried in the graveyard near the castle. and no one even dared to attend the funerals. and people had even less expectations from those 10. one more drop in the doubt glass and there were going to be already 9 dug up places for the rest that would not make it.

“today is the funeral.” lia announced the rest as soon as she entered the room where the rest of her siblings were enjoying their time ‘together’, even if everyone was doing something else and basically ignoring each other’s existence. as soon as lia said that, all nine gazes fell on her, half confused and the other half just disinterested. “will no one of you for real attend it?” she then asked, after she caught on the silence that fell upon the room all of a sudden.

“sorry to break it to you, but i don’t think anyone else cared about him as you did. and why did you even care about him? he was an asshole.” jisung spoke up first, telling his sister everyone’s thoughts on the topic of their father’s funeral.

“he took care of you.” lia protested and frowned at him. “he took care of all of you. he even got some of you out of different kind of messes. doesn’t he deserve to have his kids at his funeral? after you all not giving one single fuck about him?”

“he didn’t give a single flying fuck about us either, up until the society’s pressure became too big.” yuna told her, her tone acid and her stare on lia felt heavy, like the younger girl was ready to just pick up a fight in that very moment if lia dared to defend that bastard one more time.

“i’m coming. let’s go.” hyunjin stood up suddenly, leaving his half full cup of tea on the glass table. “just quit arguing over him. it has no sense, okay? let them be.” he continued talking, after he was next to lia. “it’s not worth it. they don’t care and that’s that. you can’t force them and they won’t regret it as well.”

“oh, look at me, i’m hyunjin and i care about the dead man that brought this family and kingdom to despair.” jisung mocked him, rolling his eyes as soon as he finished imitating the older. he then saw hyunjin look back at him and he could feel the hatred in his gaze that was directed to him and specifically to him. it was like you were looking at some long time enemies.

after the two exchanged the heated stares, lia and hyunjin left the room, starting to walk towards the entrance of the castle and then start going through the garden, so they could reach the graveyard. king kang was going to be buried besides his parents, since he never had any brothers or sisters. he was the only single child in the entire tree of the royal family that had been ruling over the country in the past few centuries. others before him always had always one sibling. it seemed like he made up for the fact that he was a single child by having with 9 more than his parents had. funny.

upon the two leaving, jisung scoffed audibly and just got up from his own seat, leaving the room as well, but clearly not going to randomly show up at the funeral. as if that man deserved his last regards. the rest just followed his steps with their stare, up until they couldn’t see in the corridor anymore. silence fell upon all of the others once again.

“will no one really go the funeral besides hyunjin and lia?” chaeryeong dared to ask and suddenly all the attention was on her, which made her make herself smaller in her chair.

“if you want to attend, you can go.” yeji simply told her and got up as well. “and if you don’t want to go, that’s also fine. just quit making a fuss like jisung or lia. keep that energy for the next week when you guys will have to fight even until someone dies for the throne.” she then continued with a straight face and put her hair in a high ponytail, before leaving the room as well and deciding to go for a walk.

after she left, yuna and ryujin decided to leave as well and go visit their mother instead of going to that funeral. it wasn’t like they really cared about it. maybe they would go the next day and just pay their respects for him as a king, instead of father, but that was also debatable if they were going to do it or not. jeongin was next, heading for his room and just kill his time by doing remotely anything else. seungmin thought of attending, but decided he had more important stuff to do, rather than see a dead man being buried. boring.

“are you planning on going?” felix asked chaeryeong after they were the only ones left in the room. the girl nodded at the question, frowning a bit. of course, the king never was a father figure for her, but she wanted to be nice. “let’s go, then.” was all felix said, before he stood up and started walking, which took the girl by surprise so she almost jumped from her seat, jogging to keep up with felix and his speed.

they took the same route as hyunjin and lia, but trying to arrive faster, since maybe the funeral already started and they were about to miss it. thankfully, when they went through the big gate of the graveyard, the priest also just arrived and the coffin was just closed by the people who were ready to neatly arrange the thing in the hole that was dug up for it. upon seeing the two, lia wanted to throw some cold remark to them, but hyunjin stopped her, by placing his hand on one of her shoulders. so the girl calmed down. for that moment.

the sky had a sad colour as well. a gloomy, expressionless grey. it looked like it was about to rain, but the rain could be considered fashionably late. one could argue that the weather harmonised with the fact that the king was almost gone forever, his body having to spend an eternity in a small coffin, buried by dirt. but felix knew the weather wasn’t dreading the death of the ruler. the sky was dreading the up-coming mess that was going to be the kang household the following week. a fight so scary and fierce like that family had never seen. it was strange to think about that. the fact that some of them could die. and for what? greed. the deadly sin they all shared in common. at least that, if not any particular virtue or personality traits.

the silence between the sibling was somber. the only thing that was heard were the prayers told by the priest, as the four were following the other men’s movements in the attempt to arrange the coffin in the hole. a soft breeze brushed against all of the people present at the scene, messing their hair a bit. the air started getting colder, due to the fact that it was going to be evening soon. lia insisted that the funeral had to be held as close to the evening as possible, since their father loved evenings with a pretty starry sky. sadly, the nature let her down by having only the sad clouds in the sky. it was a shame, thinking that she wanted that funeral to be as close to perfect as it could get. her attempts went down the drain and the other three siblings could feel how disappointed the girl was feeling. if anyone from them actually cared about the bastard, that was lia. of course, she couldn’t say he was the best dad or anything like that, but she was always saying he tried his best for the last few years of his life, while having all of them in one house. but she also didn’t really blame the others, no matter how far she could go to defend their father.

she was simply aware that not all of them could forgive him for being the man he used to be. not even the other three that thought of attending even. it made her sad. but she also knew she couldn’t change their mind, no matter what. and she couldn’t force them, because that wouldn’t be genuine coming from them. yes, she wished they could really care about the man that was getting buried in that moment, in front of their eyes. but that just wasn’t going to happen. and she understood that. it wasn’t meant to be, but for her it meant a lot that from the rest 9, at least 3 decided to join her on the bastard’s last journey.

and before any of them knew, the hole was no more there, filled with dirt that was covering the coffin and the priest also finished his vows.

“you can all stay here more and say some last things if any of you wish, i’m sure he would still hear you, even if he is on his way to a better place at this moment.” the priest spoke up and smiled at them, before he and the other men decided to leave the graveyard. and once they did, the whole situation felt grave. like a new chapter started in all of their lives, but it wasn’t a good one. once the old man was buried, it felt like the sibling weren’t going to care about each other anymore, because they all knew what was going to happen on the next monday. and it was dull feeling. they were against each other.

“i don’t think i have any vows to share with him, he knew my place and thoughts. if you guys want to have a word, you can go ahead, but if not, that’s also fine. i will see you all inside.” lia told them with a sad smile, starting to make her way towards the garden, so she could enter the castle and go to her room.

“in this case, i think i will go first. if you guys don’t mind, can you wait right over there?” he asked and pointed in a far away place, under a tree. “so we can all have a private moment with whatever we want to say.”

“yeah, that’s fine.” chaeryeong said and started walking towards the spot that hyunjin pointed at, taking felix by the wrist so she could get him there as well, knowing that the boy would probably question that kind of decision by the question of ‘why, you have something to hide?’ and she didn’t want to hear that. felix stayed silent, as he was dragged away.

“i don’t know what you thought you were doing while you were alive, but i can assure you that you did a horrible job. it’s a miracle one of us actually cared about you and that made you favour her in so many ways, but i think it was deserved. one would say it was smart of her, but the fact that she was actually genuine all this time makes me sick, because you didn’t deserve that kind of empathy from her. from neither of us. she would say you tried your best, but you did that only with her. no wonder she is kind to you, even when you’re dead.” hyunjin spoke up when he was sure that the other two were out earshot. he was on jisung’s side, always. so why did he pretend so many times he understood lia? he honestly did so in hope that he could get in the king’s grace and maybe have a chance at being called the future king, but of course that didn’t happen. it could look like he was bitter about that, but in reality his life was better off without that family. he disliked everyone, not only him, but the humans he should have been king for. the staff. his siblings. he was just pretending and jisung was the only aware. that was the major factor in the war between them and not because hyunjin ‘cared’.

he sighed and started walking towards the gate of the graveyard, his steps feeling way too heavy for the beneath him. it looked like he was about to crush anything that was about to come in his way and even under it. and the loon on his face was a rare sight to see, but a sight felix was aware he was going to see more often during the war.

“i will be next.” chaeryeong announced and went to the place where the king was buried, trying to prepare a speech. but words seemed so hard to speak, because she was always very confused about her feelings towards that man. “i think it was nice of you to try take all of us in your care and you saved some of us. especially me, i think i would have been dead soon enough if it wasn’t for you to find your kids… and seeing you go only means that whatever nice reality i had up until now is going to shatter, because i can die soon enough and it seems like you only saved me to have an even bitter end by the hands of the ones i love. and i hate you for that. i hope you rot in the pits of hell, asshole.” chaeryeong spit out the words with such anger, that she looked like she was about to fight someone. she was rarely getting worked up over different things, but it seemed like her feelings finally started to be pristine.

she scoffed, annoyed, and started walking fast towards the gate, wanting to go to her room and just spend the rest of her day sleeping all her worries away, that would come back in the morning anyway.

felix saw himself alone in the graveyard. he watched chaeryeong as she made her way back to the castle. he thought of doing a vow wouldn’t get him anywhere, so he simply rose his middle finger in the air.

“fuck you.” was all he said and walked over to the gate, so he could return to the others that were already gone. he wasn’t sure if the priest announced the others to go try and do some vows, but most of the others wouldn’t anyway. they’d probably do what he did or even spit on the dirt he was buried under. and that wouldn’t surprise him.

after all, none of them truly cared about the old man, besides lia. and even her didn’t want to stay and speak to him. of course, they all knew that she didn’t have to, because she ended up being always the good kid. she would only turn up even more as the goody two shoes if she spent the time to tell his ‘ghost’ what a ‘great’ father he was, even if the rest didn’t think so. but she was lying to herself. she was the only one to think that he deserved to be called remotely a decent enough dad.


	2. cruelty runs in the family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> two hours.
> 
> two hours until the actual hell was about to break loose.
> 
> [...]
> 
> it was just a matter of time.
> 
> just a matter of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // blood, needles, mcd
> 
> hope you guys will enjoy this hehe !! ^_^

the weekend went by all of them faster than they expected. none of them, however, were happy because of that. they knew that sooner or later monday would come by, giving the start to what was going to destroy their bond even more. they could only be sure of themselves, but not of their success in that fight. of course, they knew each other, more or less. but at the same time they had no idea how far the other siblings could go to obtain the title. nevertheless, they were going to find out. one thing was certain, though: a lot of them could step on the others’ bodies to reach their goal. and it wasn’t unexpected at all.

after all, people always said that ‘cruelty runs in the family’.

and they weren’t wrong at all.

once again, they found themselves in the living room, all of them sitting in chair, forming a circle. their family always had a weird way to settle things and that was known even worldwide. what the name of kang could bring to the table sometimes was more than horrifying.

their last name could tell so many people a lot about them and their country. the level on which their habits and traditions were spread around the world was worrying in so many ways. not only because other rulers picked up on the violent forms of dealing with family ‘drama’, but using it even as a sport between the humans they were ruling over. that wasn’t the case in the kang’s kingdom… at least not in the past few years. but that wasn’t important at the moment.

“we all got together for a well known reason. i won’t mention, as i know it’s hard for some of you to deal with the fact that this moment finally came.” hyunjin started the meeting in the end, as he took a book from the glass table that was placed in the middle of the circle they were forming.

“just get into it, hyunjin.” seungmin said, sighing and rolling his eyes. he had no time to lose from the time he would have given to plan what his next moves were going to be. just like the rest of them, he wanted to survive as long as he could.

“i am, seungmin. i would have started getting into it, if you didn’t interrupt me earlier. anyway. how i was saying. this tradition has been in our family for a long time and that is, something the ancestors would like to call ‘blood bath’. there are no specific rules for this thing, besides the fact that the last one which didn’t give up or… well, die. that one will get the throne and everything that comes with it. that should be clear for everyone. however, the participants. us, in this case. are given around two hours to make some plans. the big clock in the castle will ring loudly when these two hours will finish. any questions?”

the room fell silent for some minutes, while everyone looked at everyone, taking in what hyunjin just told them. only two hours to prepare themselves as good as possible for what was about to go down? that sounded… way less than they were expecting, but the older knew the best. after all, he was the who got the book with all those stuff. the book that was lying on the glass table in front of all of them. the book in which they had to write their names.

they had to write their names if they were participating.

and not just with some random pen or pencil. they had a special fancy quill, dating way before their dad even was born or his parents. they were also required to write them in blood. happily, since years ago, they were able to get an infirmary in the castle, so they just had to go through a needle sting to get their blood taken.

“please, your vessels.” hyunjin spoke again and rose his palms, waiting for all the siblings to give him those containers with dark red liquid in them. “oh, by the way, is anyone in here that would like to just give up the title now and not participate?” he asked and looked around at everyone. some frowned, while others visibly were pondering the thought. nonetheless, no one backed away from the challenge. “alrighty, then.”

the older took all the vessels and then opened his own, dipping the quill in the liquid, as he spread the book open on the first page which didn’t have anything written on it. he first wrote the date and then ‘kang blood bath’ with the number besides it. it was the family’s 23rd blood bath that ever happened in their history. he inhaled quietly, something making him to hesitate in writing his own name, for whatever reason. however, he did it. he wrote his name. hwang hyunjin.

and then in age order, hyunjin wrote their names with their own blood. hwang yeji. choi lia. han jisung. lee felix. kim seungmin. yang jeongin. shin ryujin. lee chaeryeong. shin yuna. as his hand was writing the names away, the atmosphere started growing heavier and heavier, as if they were already living their last breaths. as if, as soon as they were finishing signing in the right side of their names, they were goiung to find their end. it felt wrong, but they had to do it. because it simply was meant to be.

and traditions could not be broken in the kang family. no matter what.

the book went around with the quill, but after hyunjin gave back the recipients with the blood. when the last finally signed, the maid that was in the room with them set the big clock to be heard in the next two hours from that exact moment. not any minute in plus or minus. the older closed the book and got up, holding it against his chest, together with the quill.

“good luck everyone.” was the last thing he said, before he was the first one to leave the room, going to put back the only valuable he was able to touch that was under the kang family’s name. the only time someone else was going to touch it was when the winner was going to be announced and then they had to write their name as the next ruler.

“may the best sibling win.” jeongin said and stood up next, starting to walk off towards to the corridor and then to anywhere but his room, as he thought that the first places where the others were going to search were probably going to be their rooms. it was good if he was out of the castle, in the best scenario. hard to find, but easy to target the others.

one by one, all of them started to leave, already with their thoughts focused on how to win and if they could be able to make some deals with some of the others, that they could just ignore once they were the last in the blood bath. of course, making alliances was going to be a hard task for everyone who was thinking of such thing. every sibling had their favourites and if they couldn’t get those ones to work with them, they had to might as well just call ‘each to their own’.

two hours.

two hours until the actual hell was about to break loose. in that time, most of the staff was going to be home, besides one guardian that was going to scout as much of the property as he could and using a device to announce whenever one of the sibling was dead or just giving up on fighting for the title.

it felt unbelievable even for the staff, especially since they knew the kids the best, if you didn’t count how well the children knew each other. but the war for what the strove was going to get out different sides from each of them. some of them were about to either turn out more mellow than what others thought, while the others were about to come off as stronger than what someone could imagine.

it was just a matter of time.

just a matter of time.

if there was one thing ryujin was good at, that was archery. she attended classes for that kind of activity ever since she was little and easily became one of the aces. if there was a habitat where she felt like in a second home, that was the nature. the trees, more exactly. she always had a sense of freedom, whenever they were trying to do stealth training, using trees to hide themselves and take as many targets as they could, before the teacher would identify their position.

and what was she going to do was exactly that. making use of the things she knew the best. of course, any of her sibling would probably expect her to go for archery related things, however there were low chances to realise that she was going to be spying on them from a tall tree. watching their every move and waiting for the moment when they were in the perfect position. position which was giving ryujin the advantage to strike.

meanwhile she had a plan already, there were others that didn’t really think things through and were going to act based on their first instincts, hoping that their survival skills were going to make up for their lack of plans. not because they maybe couldn’t think of one, but because they were aware that plans did not go well at times. and they were considering that in their thinking, when deciding that they were just going to see what happened and try on acting on the spot.

nevertheless, that also had its downsides, because it meant less preparations for different thing and humans weren’t made to always have the smartest reactions when in critic situations. or maybe they wouldn’t even see their end coming. that was a scenario they failed to consider, since they all were striving to be the best one.

sadly, there were going to be 9 fallen ones. and only time and up-coming circumstances were going to show who was worth of going further and who didn’t come well prepared to the blood bath.

while the initial planning was going on, suddenly a voice was heard through the speakers that were scattered around not only the property, but the entire empire. there was no rule in which it said that the players couldn’t hide in the city nearby or anything related to that, so it was better announcing everything that way. some of them could find their end somewhere far away from the castle, its gardens and the whereabouts of that one participant who went too far and found its day of death had to be found and then announced as death, no matter the circumstances and chances of that kind of scenario happening.

“one hour has passed! the players have one more hour until the actual fight can start. use the final time to the best you all can.” the groggy voice of the guardian was heard by all of them, making them eager of making the decisions they considered could fit their ways of winning.

because none of them was the same when it came to fighting.

they had knowledge of their other siblings’ style of dealing with things and maintaining a fight, but in the end they all made use of distinct forms of thinking and acting upon serious matters.

but they were still equal in some matters. they had the same basics and those were easily read and counter attacked. it all came down to how they were going to be playing their cards in that on-going match of ignoring their own feelings. and others’ as well.

hyunjin did not go away from the castle, instead he chose to make his base in the attic of castle, wanting to quietly wait for the pray to come him, instead of going on his own after it. his approach was similar to ryujin’s. after all, there was a reason why they were both preferred as the next ruler for the country. they had their way, avoiding the prime factor of conflict and learning to deal with it in unique ways, rather than jumping right into the mess and dealing with it.

people thought it was a great approach for someone who was supposed to have an entire kingdom under them.

some of them would call them cowards for hiding and attacking just when they were sure they could win the fight, but in the end it was a smart thinking, because in the most cases they could come out as the ones with most victories.

and it was definitely better than what others were doing. the last two mentioned were at least considering attacking, while jisung and chaeryeong didn’t even spend one minute on thinking, before they took off to the nearby city, wanting to hide up until the battle was going to be only between the them and the last one that was bond to survive back at the castle. some would call it unexpected from jisung and expected from chaeryeong, but in reality no one would actually know if they weren’t in the position of planning something bigger. something that just required them to spend time in the city and gather what they needed before they would literally make a move.

but that was up to their decision and therefore, their decisions would have consequences in the soon future.

meanwhile, yuna and yeji agreed on an alliance for as long as it would take that only five would be standing. they had no idea how much it would take them to achieve that, but they weren’t going to go for each other’s throat. at least, at that moment, not yet.

despite jeongin’s belief that the first place where people were going to look was their rooms, seungmin thought otherwise. and while the younger was in the woods near the castle, the older decided to stay put in his room, with the door locked and the window open, ready to hear any noise that could be made in his earshot. he was going to take any chance he had.

however, jeongin was going to wander the woods until someone either would find him or if he would find someone who could be an easy target. he had no fear and was going to fight if he had to fight. and he was going to give up if he thought he wouldn’t be able to escape. simple as that.

lia and felix were the only ones who didn’t really have any plans and just decided to claim some parts of the garden, where they thought they were hard to find and gather as meany weapons as they could. maybe it would have some type of use. maybe.

and by the time they were all done with their preparations, the second announcement came about the time being up. the clock also rung through the castle, giving the start to the blood bath.

may the best sibling win, right?

right.

ryujin finally found the perfect tree, quickly going up in it and choosing a branch that looked the most stable, positioning herself there and starting to scout the area to the best possible, trying to find her first target. she wanted to get done with that ‘war’ as soon as possible, because the faster, the better. it would just loosen things up and get rid of the stupid competition.

one had to win and she thought that was going to be her. and well. it was nice to think so highly of yourself. it made you feel like your fantasies could become real from time to time.

that’s exactly what didn’t happen to ryujin. lost in her thoughts of possibly being the one most worthy of winning and also imagining that she was going to be the one that would wipe all of them out…

that made her unaware of some few things.

the things she thought that would be in her advantage.

were all useless.

because the last person she expected to betray her… was exactly the one who shot the arrows in her directions and made her unable to catch herself from falling from such height. the blonde haired girl took another arrow from the quiver and focused, sending one more arrow through ryujin’s left side of the chest, hearing what she thought might be the last sound she would ever hear from the older. some blood splattered in the air, reaching on one of the younger’s hand, but she frowned, wiping it on her pants.

“shin ryujin, 8th child just died, shot by arrows.” the speakers were suddenly heard all over the empire, making people not believe their ears. how could one of the favourite die… that fast? it hadn’t been more than 10 minutes and she was down… that quickly?

someone would think that the blue haired girl’s plan was perfect, that no one could somehow depict her way of perceiving the situation and that her win should have been expected. but even the rest the sibling couldn’t believe their ears, upon hearing the announcement. they froze in place, thinking that it was maybe a joke. but once the church song for the dead started, they knew it was real. and that ryujin just met her ending.

“ah, sister…” yuna started, scoffing and going near the older’s body and she started getting out the arrows, looking at the blood on them and then at the one that was getting on her skin and clothes. she had a disappointed look on her face. “you really thought you could go away with this kind of plan? even if you were aware that i might be the death of you? i guess i made myself way too trust worthy and that lead, inevitably to your body just lying in the dirt. sadly, you will end up under it as well.”

she finished taking out the arrows and put them back in her quiver, taking ryujin’s as well. she didn’t want to lose any time, but at the same time she didn’t want to lose any resources, so she was risking herself in the open for some bloody sticks with a pointy end? of course.

it wasn’t like anyone would actually dare to come and confront her that early on.

“your efforts were poor, but i assume you tried your best. how sad that one of the favourites had fallen. try again next time. ah… you don’t have a next time. a shame, i suppose.” she said and laughed quietly, exceeding something that you wouldn’t see her normally have in her. hatred. for someone else that wasn’t her father. one could consider it extremely odd, especially since they weren’t just half sisters. they had the same mom, yet… one trusted the other, while the other just waited for the moment when she could end the first’s life.

even if yuna could still hold another monologue for her ‘dear’ sister, she decided it was the time to leave and find a shelter until someone else decided to make another move. she didn’t want to be the only one committing murders, so she considered that watching out for other people was a good call.

some sibling were mourning, some were asking how did it happen, but one of them knew. and they were just smirking, as they were scanning the outside of the castle with the help of a device they bought long ago specifically for that kind of purpose. the alliance had its own perks, meaning they could help each other get rid of the ones they both despised.

ryujin was only the start of everything.

and they were hopeful that there would be more.

especially yeji. she was using yuna as her minion, directing her anger at the ones she knew the younger hated. as the smallest in the family, the blonde haired girl always felt kind of neglected, even by her own sister, especially when people loved her more for whatever reason. yeji, however? gave her reassurance. something most of the other siblings didn’t even think of doing for yuna.

but as special and familiar yeji felt for the youngest, the former knew she had to get rid of yuna as well soon enough. she could use for so long, before she would have picked up on yeji’s plan of getting rid of the ones that would have looked like a threat.

between them, high up in the list was also the youngest. but the blonde haired girl didn’t have to know that just yet. first, there had to be more honorable deaths. ryujin’s was just pathetic. yeji was striving for something that could look more exciting. but just like yuna, she waited for others to make any moves as well. they couldn’t be the only ones going around on a killing spree, without having any of the other ‘idiots’ fight back. that was no fun, right?


End file.
